NIGEL MARTYN: West Ham blow won't dent Everton FC's European ambitions

Mikel Arteta was a big miss though. He can influence and control games, and helps us retain the ball better. That's exactly what we needed later in the match. Also, I think Steven Pienaar plays better when Arteta's in the team.

West Ham will be disappointed with the manner in which they conceded the first goal. They had a couple of chances to clear, but full marks to Tim Cahill for sticking with it and getting the ball to Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.

After being involved in the first goal, it's another great cross from Leighton Baines for our second and a fantastic finish from Yakubu.

At that point you're thinking we just need to shut it down and protect the lead.

If Pienaar nicks the ball in midfield, they don't score. Instead, we could have e gone forward and made it 3-1. But when he misses it, that allows West Ham to break on the right.

It's a great ball by Julien Faubert to pick out Araujo Ilan's run but it was all so avoidable when we should really have taken maximum points.

Still, we've had an incredible run of seven consecutive home wins before this to help turn things around.

A win against West Ham would have put us closer to Aston Villa and Liverpool ahead of next week's trip to Villa Park.

There was potential to overtake Villa and put more pressure on those challenging for a European place.

Regardless, we have to keep aiming for Europe. Beat Villa next week and it's still a realistic possibility.

It will be tough but there is plenty of time to regroup between now and then.

We've seen a few twists and turns in recent weeks between the teams in the top half of the table.

I firmly believe that those above us will drop more points.

All we can do is look after our own business and try to win as many of our remaining five games as possible.

Blues must tie down Steven Pienaar and Jack Rodwell sooner rather than later

EVERTONIAN'S will be delighted with David Moyes' comments regarding contract talks with Steven Pienaar and Jack Rodwell.

It is vital the club keeps hold of it's best players if we are to build on the progress made in the second half of this season.

Pienaar has been tipped to be a star at the World Cup and so it is in our interests to tie him to the club sooner rather than later.

As for Rodwell, it's always a little bit disconcerting when you get a great, young player like him bursting on to the scene only for the likes of Chelsea and Man United to suddenly be linked with a move for him.

Flattering as it is, their interest isn't welcome and can serve to unsettle a young player.

Of course, when the top clubs are circling it puts a player in a stronger bargaining position when it comes to negotiating a new contract and Rodwell's agent will know this.

Dan Gosling will soon be back on road to recovery

IT'S terrible news to hear Dan Gosling will be out for nine months.

Initial hopes were that the knee injury he sustained at Wolves wouldn't be too serious, but he will now need surgery to rectify the problem.

Although Dan has had something of a bit-part season - he played earlier in the campaign when team selections were being governed by injuries - he's done well when he's been called on.

He's still a young player, learning his trade at this level. He's got his whole career ahead of him but is no different to anyone else and would want to be available as and when he is needed.

An injury like this is a massive blow for a player but, as we've seen with the likes of Mikel Arteta and Phil Jagielka, Everton have a fantastic medical team in place.

The next few months will be difficult for Dan but he's surrounded by the right people at Everton.

I wish him a full and speedy recovery.

But by retaining our quality players and keeping people fit next season, Moyes has established the kind of squad that can be challenging the likes of Aston Villa, Tottenham and Liverpool at the top end of the table.